Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2015 Issue

Outstanding Antiquarian Books from Erasmushaus

Catalogue 928 from Erasmushaus.

This month we received our first catalogue from Erasmushaus of Basel, Switzerland. It is Catalogue 928. We missed a few. Erasmushaus has been in the book trade since 1800. Their home is even older, it having once been the house of Erasmus (hence the name). Erasmus was a theologian of the early 16th century, a great humanitarian and reformer who nonetheless remained loyal to the Catholic Church during the early days of the Reformation. Erasmushaus specializes in the very best of books and some of the earliest too. There are several items of incunabula to be found in this catalogue, and many more almost as old. The catalogue presentation is one matching the quality of the works, a hard cover book filled with illustrations, many covering two pages, and detailed descriptions. Since it's anyone's guess what language a Swiss catalogue will employ, we will tell you – English. Here are a few of the spectacular works to be found at Erasmushaus (in addition to one from Erasmus himself).

 

We begin with what may be the first printing of any Greek or classical text, with the possible exception of an edition of the pseuodo-epic Batrachomyomachia. It is Vita et Fabulae, the life and fables of Aesop, the Bonus Accursius edition circa 1478. The text is in Greek and Latin. Aesop has long been used for teaching, and Accurius points out that it is intended for children and beginners learning the Greek language. Printing and the Mind of Man noted that it is from Aesop that “all popular fables of modern Europe are derived.” Price on request.

 

Next we have an item of enormous importance for collectors of Americana: Cosmographiae Introductio cum Quibus dam Geometriae ac Astronomiae Principiis ad earn rem Necessariis. In super quatuor Americi Vespucii navigationes. This translates roughly to “Introduction to Cosmography, together with some necessary principles of Geometry and Astronomy. Also four voyages of Amerigo Vespucci.” This was published in 1507 by the noted mapmaker Martin Waldseemuller. This edition is dated August 29, likely a fourth edition published four months later and in the same year as the first. The book begins with an introduction to geography. Waldseemuller repeatedly refers to a map and globe he prepared, indicating it was intended as a guide to be used with these. The map survives in only one copy (purchased by the Library of Congress for $10 million) and the globe in none, though three sets of uncut gores survive. The second part describes the four voyages of Vespucci and it is here that this book becomes so significant. Waldseemuller suggests it is appropriate to name the new land after Amerigo Vespucci, something like “America.” The name stuck. A later map of Waldseemuller not using that name may indicate he changed his mind, perhaps from learning that it was Columbus, not Vespucci, who discovered the new land, but by then it was too late. Price on request.

 

Streeter described the next item as “the most important of all Ptolemy editions, its supplement of 'new' maps the beginning of modern map-making.” It is the Geographiae opus novissima published in Srasbourg March 12, 1513. It is an atlas containing both Ptolemaic maps and new maps based on the recent voyages that began spreading out of Europe at the end of the 15th century. While the atlas does not name the map-maker, it is virtually universally attributed to the previously mentioned Martin Waldseemuller. Most notable about the work is that it is the first atlas, and only the second book, with a map of America. It contains the “Admiral's map,” a vague attribution that most believe referred to Columbus, rather than Vespucci. America is shown again as “Terra Incognita,” rather than America, possibly representing Waldseemuller's learning that it was Columbus, rather than Vespucci, who discovered this new land. Price on request.

 

Leonhart Fuchs was a Professor of Medicine at Tubingen University when he created this masterwork in 1542: De historia stirpium commentarii insignes. It is a large herbal, an attempt to add to the “Materia Medica,” or knowledge of substances that had curative powers over disease. Fuchs' work covered 500 plants, including some from the still new lands in America. He had specimens brought to his gardens to examine. This herbal is noteworthy for the quality and completeness of its illustrations. It wasn't the first herbal to contain illustrations, but the woodcuts Fuchs used established a new standard in botanical illustration. Giving credit where it is due, the book includes portraits of the two illustrators and the engraver. CHF (Swiss Frank) 95,000 (approximately US $99,881 U.S. dollars)

 

David Roberts produced two of the most spectacular illustrated works of the 19th century. Roberts was an accomplished British artist who developed a wanderlust. He had already toured Europe when in 1839 he set off on a greater adventure, visiting numerous places in the Near East. His journey took him through Egypt and various parts of the Holy Land. The drawings made on his trip became the basis of two books, one on the Holy Land, and this one: Egypt & Nubia, from drawings made on the spot. It was published in three volumes from 1846-1849. It contains 121 lithograph plates. CHF 250,000 (US $262,385).

 

You may reach Erasmushaus at +41 61 228 99 44 or hdb@erasmushaus.ch. Their website is found at www.erasmushaus.ch

Rare Book Monthly

  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

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